Center Chris Spencer has a back injury that kept him out of last week's game. He had an epidural shot, coach Mike Holmgren said, but it did not respond. If Spencer will be out for any extended period of time, he likely would be placed on injured reserve.

Guard Mike Wahle is not expected to be available for this week's game. He suffered a shoulder injury that kept him out the past two games, and he also may be out for the rest of the year.

Linebacker Leroy Hill has not regained strength in his arm after suffering a stinger during a goal-line stop in Thursday's game, and his availability will be in doubt for this week's game. If he is unavailable, D.D. Lewis would start in his spot.

As for Spencer, he is in his fourth year since being chosen in the first round of the 2005 draft. He has undergone offseason shoulder surgery each of the past two seasons, and he had a back injury that kept him out for all of training camp. Holmgren said Monday that the back injury that bothered him in August was the same disk that is currently bothering Spencer. Asked to appraise Spencer's season, here is Holmgren's quote:

"He played OK. My expectation for Chris Spencer is high. I think he has the potential really to be a fine player. I think he got off to a bad start. By that I mean he missed all of training camp, really. He had offseason surgery, and then everyone was excited and he healed up and then all of a sudden he had another problem. I believe he is a good football player, but he has been very, very unlucky and a little bit injury-prone so far in his career.

"And offensive linemen, the great offensive linemen, they're playing, they play all the time. Those are the guys that have -- other than [Brett] Favre -- have consecutive game streaks and all that kind of stuff. Particularly centers."-- Coach Mike Holmgren, Dec. 1